Mark sat in the main meeting room deep in [Meditation]. He’d spent most of the night reviewing everything they’d discussed. They were choosing to sink deeper into the process and get a feel for manipulating their own cores. Mark had even gone so far as to drink his tonics and then watch for the changes. With each attribute joining his body he could feel fewer and fewer gaps allowing energy to escape, but at the same time. It became obvious that until he got the final points of Prana he could theoretically change the shape of his core on demand.
So the problem became what to change it into. After that, it was just a matter of moving everything into place. And that was the next problem.
While Mark could change the shape of his core at will, it took conscious thought to sustain the shape, at least until he could affect the surrounding area enough for it to become permanent.
As of yet, none of them had made any big changes, in fact, they hadn’t moved from the mold the system forced on them.
For Mark, this was just practice, he needed to get a handle on manipulating the shape of his core so that when he reached the point of no return, he’d be able to affect the areas he wanted.
This however was extremely difficult.
It got to the point that Mark had spent the better part of the night manipulating a single block in and out of position.
As the night had moved on he had begun to gain control of more, but it would still take a lot of work to get it close to what he wanted.
It was so much work, that even now, as the delegation from the loyalists were on their way here, Mark was still deep in his skill, giving it his full concentration.
The room around him was busy with last-minute preparations as they were near the lower levels of their base.
The loyalists had insisted they be close to the ground for a demonstration of power. Something none of them thought was necessary, but at their insistence, Karter had allowed it.
The idea was that they could display their abilities to better understand what roles they would each fill in this mission.
This type of team was intended as a probe beyond the city wall, as they wanted to gather data as well as determine what level of strength could survive out in the ‘wilds’ right now.
No one had been beyond the walls since the city-wide influx, save for Chloe’s group which was before they had managed to seal off the place.
Something Mark was only too happy to help with, he just hoped it didn’t cause unnecessary deaths. Drones had been returning what they could and Jude had even attempted to send some of his creations out, but getting beyond the light of the spire resulted in it being taken down by hordes of Ghasts. Even with their more resistant components they only managed to last a couple of extra seconds. Returning images of the area besieged by destruction.
However, worrying about that now was irrelevant. First, they need to meet their team.
Jonathan's head flicked up to the door a couple of seconds before Andy burst through it.
“They’re here, and they brought an army, the army! I dunno a bunch of people are here.”
Ethel stood and walked around the table.
“Thank you, Andy. I’d hoped we’d be able to escort them up here quietly, but it seems they want to make a spectacle of this. We’ll meet them down there.”
Mark pulled himself from his core and opened his eyes.
Lisa lounged in one of the chairs with Nathan near a window. Sitting close by was Wesley with a large shield resting flat on the table. Nas had arrived half an hour earlier with several teams.
Their people now waited outside with their order to receive the loyalists.
Lisa had brought Wesley forward to them and reintroduced him with little fanfare. As he was the man they were putting forward for the team.
Mark was familiar with the guy and didn’t have a problem with their choice, as he was incredibly resilient, strong, and a team player to boot. Something they were still unsure of, when it came to the Loyalists.
Everyone was already on edge as it was, and now they were bringing a large show force to the area they threatened just a couple of days ago.
“Well let's go meet them, everyone. I always enjoy these first encounters, you never know what you’re going to find.”
For the most part, Ethel seemed to be talking most of this in stride, while Karter ran all over the place trying to get everything in order.
Andy led them down the handful of levels and out through the lobby.
By this point, the show was already in full swing as the entire street was taken up by soldiers marching in the street. A couple of hummers along with normal vehicles moved in rank and file. And then as though that weren't enough Mark spotted a line of tanks. Many of which had been destroy or stolen in the first days.
In the beginning, the Corrupted could not pierce their thick armor but as damage continued to accumulate less and less of them were seen on the battlefields. They could only handle so much punishment without repairs. With the addition of the corrosive spit from Ghouls, the tanks had turned into large glass cannons, in the most literal of senses. They still had more than enough firepower to put down a titan if they had to, but they at least needed to be supported by teams of Aura users.
As they approached, Mark noticed that the front plates and armor around the tracks seemed enhanced with materials that were post-fall.
An enhanced tank could pose a decent threat to slow-moving targets. Even still, there were over thirty of the all-terrain vehicles lined up now, a display of power that not many, if any, could match.
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The lines parted and Major Liam along with Lieutenant Bix stepped out of a black sedan. The Major himself held the door open as Colonel Rachel stepped out of the vehicle personally.
“Good morning all, I’m here to greet the Order of the Sage in an official capacity.” Colonel Rachel nodded to Karter, pointedly ignoring Lisa and Nathan.”
Mark couldn’t say he was glad she was here, it always ended up complicating things. Luckily Karter was there to step up.
“Thank you all for coming, why don’t we take this inside, we can discuss things in comfort.”
The Colonel shook her head.
“I hardly think that's an appropriate place for a demonstration of our abilities don’t you think?”
Karter's face was grim and his mouth moved into a thin line.
“It isn’t but there will be time enough for that. If you could have your men vacate the streets, you’re taking up a large amount of space. Plus, right now there is no way to accurately demonstrate your abilities, at least none that won’t cause unnecessary destruction.”
Colonel Rachel shook her head.
“Nonsense, I thought of everything. Forward March!”
No sooner had she given the signal than the section in front of them advanced, breaking in half and leaving the tanks behind.
In a matter of moments, the streets were clear of soldiers and bystanders alike.
Ethel glanced at them, she’d warned the three of them that something like this might happen, so they had not reacted. The same could not be said for their people. Weapons were raised and stances lowered. Sam and Jonathan looked as ready to take action as Mark felt.
Karter had to give a signal to stand down, yet Colonel Rachel forged on.
“Excuted brilliantly, now it's about time you met your fellow compatriot-”
Karter's voice dropped a couple of octaves and stared at the Colonel with the same look one might give a petulant teenager.
“Before that, I would remind you of where you are.”
Colonel Rachel looked at Kater and pursed her lips.
“Are we not all friends here?”
Ethel came up beside Karter with a polite smile that never reached her eyes.
“That question has a simple answer, please don’t make any more drastic moves like that without our say-so, alright? Now, in the interest of saving time, we’ll go along with you, what do you propose to show us your strength?”
The Colonel looked at Karter and Ethel, her eye flickering over to the rest of them.
Mark had not moved from his spot, but the fact that they’d brought enough soldiers here to rival an invasion force had him on edge.
Colonel Rachel could see she wasn’t going to get much from any of them so she nodded.
“Right, please forgive my overstep. Captain Price, if you would.”
A large man stepped out of the driver's side of the sedan.
He wore an army green T-shirt and cargo pants, with battered dog tags hanging from his neck and heavy combat boots. Stepping around to the front of the vehicle he carried himself with an arrogance Mark didn’t normally see in soldiers.
“Ma’am, Captain Price, reporting for duty.”
An amused twinkle glinted in his green eyes, even as he sized each of them up, lingered on Sam far longer than the rest His freshly shaven buzzcut matched his neatly trimmed stubble. Mark would put him late twenties or very early thirties, yet the way he moved was very obviously trained.
Colonel Rachel nodded.
“Right, this man here will be our contribution. I do hope you all work well together, but for now, I would appreciate some help with testing some of our most recent weapon developments. Perhaps this can act as our demonstration too. How about someone from each faction lends a hand?”
Karter wore a bitter expression and looked about ready to decline when Ethel rested a hand on his arm.
“We’re not sure about NAS, but we’d be happy to help with a demonstration.”
For the first time, Colonel Rachel turned to look at Lisa directly.
“What do you say Ms. Howl?”
Lisa maintained eye contact with the woman and made a very small nod to Wesley.
“NAS never turns down the opportunity to strengthen themselves. We’re happy to help, I love it when new weapons go up for sale.”
Colonel Rachel's face twitched.
“Unfortunately, these prototypes are not for sale-”
Lisa’s smile was vicious.
“Everybody has a price Colonel, even you.”
Colonel Rachel's eyes narrowed at Lisa, and just when she was about to respond Jonathan stepped in.
“I’ll happily be our Orders volunteer. Please continue your explanation, Colonel. What weapons will we be testing?”
Colonel Rachel focused on Jonathan and seemed to catch herself, a gradual smile taking precedence.
“Many thanks, Mr.Wilson. To answer your question we’ve been working on material refinement for a while now and have come across several methods to improve our M1 Abrams. With the invasion of that creature, we realized the need for more firepower. So what we will be testing today are armor-piercing rounds that do not contain any explosives.”
As she said this she raised a hand and suddenly the groaning of several tanks behind her became apparent as their main turrets all moved to point down the road the soldiers had just vacated.
Mark's eyes widened as he realized what she wanted.
“You want us to take a tank shell head-on?” Jonathan asked, looking far more interested than he had any right to.
A snort of laughter came from Captain Price.
“Come on, I can see you’re ready to try, right?”
Wesley had a thoughtful look in his eye too, as though he wondered how it would be to take a hit like that.
Captain Price moved into the open street with his arms wide open in challenge.
However, everything came to a halt when Sam spoke, a grim expression appearing on her face.
“None of this is going forward until you can promise us that no bystanders, nor any of our infrastructure will get damaged in this testing.”
Colonel Rachel turned to look at Sam, a frown appearing on her face.
“Well we made preparations, but as far as I understand you have a powerful force caster on your team, couldn’t he join to make sure nothing bad happens?”
Everyone looked over at Mark who was still eyeing the tanks.
He should be able to take a couple of hits from a tank, the problem came with the uncertainty of these enhancements.
Looking over at Sam, Mark nodded as his construct began to warp around him and split into two. The first stayed to protect him, while the other exploded out around everyone as an invisible sheet of force. Rushing in like a tide and quickly filling the roads, creating a rectangular prism that traveled down the street, with the tanks on one side and an open space on the other.
Sam nodded to Mark and placed her hand on his shoulder, moving her Mana up against his, to tap if he needed to.
Jonathan and Wesley moved over to where Captain Price was and they all moved to the open road.
After some discussion on their part, Wesley remained in the middle of the street while the others moved off to the side.
Colonel Rachel raised a hand giving the all-clear.
“The first shot will be a baseline and will therefore be an unenhanced round”
The sounds of loading chambers were the only preparation they got as a concussive round detonated into being, its deadly payload tearing toward Wesley.
When it hit his braced shield, there was a flicker of skills across it, causing a world-shattering groaning of metal.
Yet Wesley stood firm as the round hit, only dropping back a single step, causing the bullet to fracture into shrapnel that exploded outward only leaving its core.